Ariq Boke

Ariq Boke (1219-1266), also known as Arig Bokha, was the Khagan of the Mongol Empire from 1259 to 1264, succeeding Mongke Khan and preceding Kublai Khan. A son of Tolui Khan and the brother of Mongke and Kublai Khan, Ariq Boke competed with Kublai after the death of Mongke in 1259, but Kublai Khan seized power in 1264.

Biography
Ariq Boke was born in 1219 to Tolui Khan and Sorghaghatani Beki. His father was a Tengri Mongol from the Borjigin clan, while his mother was a Nestorian Christian Mongol of the Kereyids. Ariq Boke was sympathetic towards Christianity, as noted by the Franciscan missionary William of Rubruck, who explored the Mongol Empire. In 1259, when Mongke Khan died, Ariq Boke's brothers Hulegu Khan and Kublai Khan set out for Karakorum to decide a successor, but Ariq Boke seized power in their absence. Ariq Boke had the Ilkhanate behind him, as he was the high chief of Khorasan. He allied with Khagan Alghu of Chagatai, but Alghu later deserted him and stole his treasure. Alghu defeated him in battle, but Ariq Boke won a second battle, forcing Alghu to flee westward. However, Ariq Boke's fighting spirit wore off as time went on, and he twice lost control of Karakorum. In 1263, he submitted to Kublai Khan.

Aside from campaigning against Kublai Khan, Ariq Boke also served as a commander under his brother Hulegu Khan in his campaigns against the Qutuzid Sultanate in Syria and the Kesranid Satrapy in Azerbaijan. Ariq Boke distinguished himself as the commander of a large army of over 50,000 troops, and he would prefer direct assaults to starving out the enemy, quickly taking over enemy cities. In 1260 he sacked the city of Damascus, forming a tower of severed heads outside of the city called the "burj al-ru'us". He was one of the most successful commanders of the Ilkhanate, and one of its influential leaders.